Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is at once my honour and duty to give a talk on Gandhian Ethics and Leadership under the auspices of the NSS units of our Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering.

The first edition of the best–selling book “Freedom at Midnight”, by Collins and Dominique Lapierre has on its cover page the drawing of Mahatma Gandhi and a few followers walking amidst rice fields in today’s Bangladesh. The last person in that group is a person carrying on his head a portable toilet which Gandhiji would show and explain in the villages he visited. His mission that day in January 1947 was to bring peace to the villages which were reeling under Hindu–Muslim riots. Many parts of India were burning but he chose this remote village, because he felt that India lives in its villages. He would go to a village and request to stay in one of their houses, eat whatever food they gave him, conduct prayer meetings, talk to them about how to prepare drinking water using charcoal and sand, how to construct pits for sanitary latrines, how to keep the well clean and so on. After one or two days, he would go to the next village. After three weeks of a program like this, peace came back to the country.

I mention this incident to highlight the importance Gandhiji attached to the basic needs of the people while striving for the national goal of independence. If today the country has achieved 100 % freedom from open defecation, the groundwork was laid by him a hundred years ago.

What was special about him, in my opinion, were

* Clarity of thinking

* Concern about the under-privileged

* Attention to even small details

* Integrity

* His self–imposed discipline

* His sense of humour

With your permission, I will amplify on these aspects but in the reverse order.

SENSE OF HUMOUR

* During the Dandi Salt Satyagraha march of March 1931, an American newspaper reporter introduced himself saying, “Mr. Gandhi, my name is Walker”. By that time Gandhiji was walking for 24 days at a distance of about 400 kilometres, starting from Ahmedabad. He looked at Mr. Walker and said, “My name is walker”.

* Later that year he attended the Second Round Table conference in England. He had tea with King George in Buckingham Palace and went dressed in his usual dhoti and shawl. When a reporter asked him why he was wearing so few clothes, he replied, “Well, the King was wearing clothes sufficient for both of us”. The reason of course was that soon after his return to India from South Africa in 1915, he took a vow that he would not wear more than two pieces of cloth until the poorest Indian could afford to wear more than that.

* He used to receive hundreds of letters everyday by regular post and would read all these letters and reply to each one of them personally. He would use the pencil until it became so small that it was impossible to hold it anymore because he said that if we throw away a useful pencil, we are insulting the worker who has put in so much effort in creating it. Also, he would tear open the used envelops and reuse the paper for rough work. Once he received a six page harsh letter from someone accusing him of spoiling the country, the economy, the youth and so on. Gandhiji read it fully, removed the pin holding the papers together, put the pin in the pin cushion and put the papers in the waste paper basket. His secretary Mahadev Desai asked him why and he said, ”I have preserved the only useful thing in letter”.

* Someone asked him,”Bapu, what is your opinion about American civilization?” He replied with a twinkle in his eye, “I think that is a good idea”.

* His sense of humour percolated even to his followers. When Queen Elizabeth visited India in 1959 she was received in the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Babu Rajendra Prasad showed her his library and presented her copies of books he had written. The Queen said, “Your Excellency, as Head of state one is extremely busy. I do not find time even to read books. How could you write so many books! ” Babu Rajendra Prasad replied, “Your Highness, I had all the time in the world in your father’s prisons”.

* When Morarji Desai was interviewed on his birthday Feb 29 the leap day in 1976, the reporter said, “Sir, I hope we can meet again for your next birthday” Morarji was 80 years old on that day and said, “Young man, you appear to be in your thirties and I am sure you will be alive four years from now”. Morarji Desai lived up to 99.

DISCIPLINE

Gandhiji was the personification of discipline. He would get up at 3 am every day and his diary was filled with appointments, tasks etc. up to 8:30 pm.

In the novel by RK Narayan, “Waiting for the Mahatma”, the hero Sriram has his appointment with the Mahatma from 4:33 am to 4:36 am and this was hell for a person who never saw a sunrise in his life. Gandhiji would do all kinds of tasks – gardening, agriculture, education, speaking to groups of people, writing articles and editorials in newspapers and most important of all – planning and executing the strategy for gaining Indian independence. Perhaps no other person in living memory has worked so hard, with so much discipline and so much clarity. Clarity about the goal and about the path to that goal. As he used to say, the means are as important as the ends.

The control he had over his body and even mind was unparalleled. While in London, a doctor advised him to eat meat to increase his weight since he was underweight by 5 pounds. Gandhiji smiled and went away. When he came back after a week, the doctor was pleased to see a gain of 5 pounds. But Gandhiji told him that he achieved this result only through a vegetarian diet, will power and Yoga.

Gandhiji also demanded discipline from his followers and even the general public. A public meeting on the Marina Beach, Chennai attracted more than a lakh audience which was making a lot of noise. Dr. C. Rajagopalachari came and requested in Tamil for silence. After sometime, Tanguturi Prakasam garu came and requested in Telugu for silence. After sometime, Gandhiji came on stage and folding his hands in the Namaste gesture, looked round at the audience. There was pin-drop silence. He then left the meeting silently without giving a speech. Everyone in the audience understood that the Mahatma was unhappy with the indiscipline.

Probably all of you know about the Chauri Chaura police station incident. The police beat up a few persons protesting peacefully in 1922. The irritated mob set fire to the police station and 22 policemen died. Gandhiji immediately suspended his entire protest movement because, he said, “The people of India have not understood the meaning of non-violence. India is not ready for independence”. All congress men were against this decision because the movement had picked up tremendous momentum. But he was adamant and had his way

INTEGRITY

From his autobiography, we all know about the incident in school. The school inspector, Mr. Giles, gave a dictation test with five words and one of them was kettle. Gandhiji spelt it starting with c instead of with k. The teacher tried to hint with his foot but Gandhiji refused to change because it was unthinkable for him that a teacher would encourage him to copy instead of trying to prevent him. But the magnanimity of Gandhiji is evident from the fact that he does not mention the teacher’s name. He even wrote that his respect for his teacher did not decrease because he was blind to the faults of his elders.

When he went to England, he also took a goat with him because he took a vow to drink only goat’s milk which was what the poor man in India could afford. Sarojini Naidu is said to have joked, “It is becoming very costly to maintain the Mahatma in his simple way of life”.

ATTENTION TO EVEN SMALL DETAILS

In the movie “Gandhi” Richard Attenborough shows how Gandhiji was holding a very important meeting in Sabarmati Ashram with Nehru, Patel and others. Serious discussion was going on about the future course of action. A small boy came to Gandhiji and said, “Bapu, the calf is not coming away from the cow”. Bapu said, “Put your thumb in the mouth of the calf and lead it gently”. The boy said, “I don’t know how to do it”. Immediately Bapu left the meeting, went with the boy to the calf and came back after completing the job. For Gandhiji no job was too small and perhaps he saw it as a signal from God to take a break so that everyone can think afresh. Is there a lesson in this episode for us? Many times we are likely to think that our job on hand is more important than helping someone in need.

One of his famous quotations is, “Supposing you are the gate keeper of a railway level crossing. Are you maintaining the gate properly, keeping it well-oiled and clean and doing your work sincerely? If you are doing it, your job is as important in God’s eyes as that of the General Manager of the Railways.”

CONCERN ABOUT THE POOR AND DOWNTRODDEN

In his novel “Waiting for the Mahatma” is narrated an incident. Gandhiji visited the town of Malgudi and he came first to the Town Mayor’s house. He is received with great pomp and seated in the sofa in the hall. Snacks and fruit are served. But instead of eating, Bapu calls a small boy in the crowd on the lawns looking at him. He makes him sit on his lap and gives him the orange and asks him to eat it. The Mayor is shocked that an untouchable has entered his house, is sitting on his sofa and is eating along with others. The boy peels the orange and drops the skin on the floor. Gandhiji picks it up and tells the boy, “If you throw these or the seeds everywhere, people will call you a bad boy. We must collect them and put them in the garbage bin”. He was speaking like a grandfather to his own grandson. After the pleasantries are over, the host offers his guest bedroom but Gandhiji rises and says, “I will make my own arrangements”, and goes with the boy to live in the scavengers’ colony outside the town. The lady of the house was dressed up in silk saree and all her jewels and was waiting in another room to be introduced to the great man, but before anyone could stop him, Gandhiji left the place. He identified himself not with the rich, the powerful and the successful people, but with the under privileged and waged a long battle to blend them into the society.

I talked about his visit in 1931 in London for the Second Round Table Conference. He did not stay in the hotel where he was provided accommodation but lived in the slums of East End.

CLARITY OF THINKING

He held that untouchability is the biggest sin and ridding India of this sin is more important than ridding the country of the British.

He said that of all the vices, alcohol is the worst, because it leads to all other vices.

He carried his small ivory monkeys – speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil.

Time was one of Gandhiji’s obsessions. Each minute, he held, was a gift of God to be used in the service of man.

Before closing, I will list once again some of the passions of Gandhiji.

o Clarity of thinking

o Concern about the under-privileged

o Attention to even small details

o Integrity

o His self–imposed discipline

o His sense of humour

You will notice that these qualities are what are necessary for every leader whether on a large or a small scale.

I wish and hope and pray that the Divine Blessings of Gandhiji will be on you for all time to come and lead you in your journey in the service of the country and the world and thus give you peace of mind and happiness.

Thank you one and all. I thank Dr. C. V. Nageswara Rao garu, Sri YCV Kondaiah, Sri Ch. Rajesh, Sri Ch. Kondaiah for giving me this opportunity.